If you work with a financial planner or wealth manager who charges a fee to manage your assets, consider tapping him or her to guide your children on investing their retirement account as well, he says.

WSJ: It Pays to Stock Kids' IRAs

Your accountant, insurance person, investment manager, attorney, and financial planner all must be on the same page.

FORBES: Put the Client First

If managed accounts sound intriguing, keep in mind that you won't have the same kind of access to your manager that you've got with a broker or planner.

FORBES: Move over, mutual funds

But others, such as Denise Beauregard, a 53-year-old event planner from the city's Rosedale Park neighborhood, said she was so dismayed by the prospect of an emergency manager that she would put her tax payments into escrow until the manager leaves the city.

WSJ: Governor to Appoint Financial Overseer for Detroit